


The Inevitable Algorithm of Destiny

by volunteer_of_hufflepuff



Series: The Inevitable Algorithm of Destiny [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, What-If, because you know what happens to this couple canonically, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2018-12-22 21:51:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11975751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/volunteer_of_hufflepuff/pseuds/volunteer_of_hufflepuff
Summary: If soulmates existed, would our world really be that different?Follow the journey of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks in a world with them.The more things change, the more they stay the same.Updated version with some more angst and consistent tense available now





	The Inevitable Algorithm of Destiny

The words _I'm sorry about him_ sprawled onto her ankle the day of her 17th birthday. 

Her friends are ecstatic for her, but they're also a little confused at how they could be someone's first words to her. The person in question slipped on her sock, in the process covering up her little piece of uncovered fate, and smiled.

Once she's thrown into the threshold of being an Auror, it becomes nothing but yet another little nag in her mind. 

Whenever she meets someone new, she instinctively does a double take at their words, but no one has apologised to her for a male's mistakes yet as their stunning opening line. At least it's a phrase and it'll be pretty obvious, not like all of the 'hi's' and 'hello's' her friends have, who are meeting their soulmates left, right and centre. 

Tonks is not jealous or vindictive about having to wait for her soulmate; those who have followed that obsessive path usually go insane, and she'd rather not join her aunt in that institution.

One day, after work, Mad-Eye pulled her aside. Well, he's retired, but he was checking on how things are going at the office and he's paranoid as ever after the kidnapping incident. It's scary how someone so cautious can be overtaken so easily by one overtly dedicated to his master.

She had been strolling down the isolated corridor when he grabbed her attention. "Tonks, do you believe that Tom Riddle is back?" he whispered, his paranoid gaze sweeping the vicinity.

Bewilderment fogged her brain until an ancient memory cleaned it; her mother, whispering as news of the Lestranges arrest spread like wildfire across the media, about how that damn Tom Riddle had stolen her sister's sanity and integrity.  _Voldemort._

"Yes, I think, but what does that matter," Tonks replied in a whisper, glancing around. If anyone heard her, she would be dead meat. Twice killed; in both her image and her actual life.

"Meet me at Kings Cross Station at 6 o'clock sharp, okay lass?" 

Without allowing her sufficient time to reply, Mad-Eye vanished into thin air and she herself apparated to her flat. 

...

March 10th, 1977 was an interesting day for Remus Lupin. 

For when you turn 17, you receive your soul mark. Sometimes its words, or matching tattoos – but whatever it is, it's crystal clear who it is. You only get words if you haven't met them yet. 

So when Remus pulled off his sock from the night before, he yelped in surprise. Sirius rose groggily from the bed beside him. 

"Happy Birthday … did you have to be so loud?" 

"Words," said Remus faintly, ignoring his friend in favour of freaking out. "There's four of them …" 

"Oh, right, you're a big boy now with a soulmate and everything. Spit it out." 

Remus subtly covered his ears. "They include your name." 

"What?" Sirius screeched, loud enough to wake James, who by now is used to the occasional hysterics of his best friend and, therefore, simply shook his head blearily in ways of a response. Peter continued to snore, undisturbed by the usual dormitory chatter. 

Remus remained silent; Sirius noticed he was covering his ears and roughly removed his hands from them. "Don't leave me in suspension. What d'you mean? What are they?"

"Is that Sirius Black. Sounds like you're going to be a celebrity, Padfoot." 

"So, your soul mate's going to be more interested in me than you, then," Sirius said smugly. 

"Of course," Remus replied quietly. "You know I've always known that my soulmate will never love me, no matter what fate decrees."

Sirius stopped from where he had been running a brush through his dark hair.

"What?" Sirius said, his voice deathly serious.

"It's ok," Remus replied, shrugging, "I've accepted it."

"But you are not unloveable! And this, if you still adamantly refuse to believe us, is literal, physical proof of that!"

Remus sighed, taking his other sock off. "We've got Transfiguration first thing, Sirius. Better get ready and not disappoint Professor McGonagall."

Sirius' retort _but she loves you!_ bounces right offRemus' thick, self-deprecating skin.

...

After Halloween, 1981, the words _is that Sirius Black_  gained a whole new, dour connotation.

He hasn't yet met someone who has uttered them upon first meeting him, mainly because he now primarily interacts with Muggles and they don't have a clue who he is. Or at least, they shouldn't.

It's a summer day, yet the wind still managed to rip through Remus's derelict Yorkshire cottage, shaking him from his increasingly melancholy thoughts.

Looking through the slit of his ragged curtains, Remus watched Albus Dumbledore, of all people, approach his home and sighed in resignation. Probably something to do with Sirius – no Black – breaking out of Azkaban. 

When he first discovered that Sirius had escaped the clutches of the Dementors, it's a relief, almost - the taste of closure lingers tantalisingly nearby -, but now the words seared into his skin terrify him, as it leads him to think that any second now, Sirius' going to get caught or worse, be thrown back into his life. 

Once Sirius is thrown back chaotically into his life, it's one of the first things he asks in a letter from the tropics. _Have you met your soulmate yet?_ Sirius had written in his typical messy scrawl. When the reply is no, Remus's soul mark becomes one source of hope for Sirius that, maybe, he's destined to be a free man one day.

By the time Voldemort has come back in order to resume his reign of terror and Sirius is locked up in Grimmauld place for the foreseeable future, he's completely forgotten about his soulmate mark. It's not important anymore, anyhow. 

...

Tonks tugged her jacket on, the summer evening having taken an unwelcome cold turn. The platform was flooded with Muggles, but no magical eyes were in sight.

Something lightly stroked her neck. With one impressively agile 180 degrees turn, Tonks's wand was making a mark on her mentor's neck.

"Lass, I'm going to take you to a place in London," he whispered into her ear, ignoring her overtly paranoid reaction – his fault for drilling it into her, anyway – deciding instead to stuff a piece of parchment into her hand. 

Mad-Eye remained silent as they walked through the streets of London, his magical eye constantly surveying their surroundings. They stopped abruptly near a set of ancient townhouses.

"Read it," said Moody, "and not out loud."

Tonks scoffed at the unnecessary reminder.

_The Order of the Phoenix can be found at No. 12, Grimmauld Place._

It was not shocking when a building suddenly materialised in front of her, squeezing snugly in between number 11 and number 12. You got used to the unnatural when you lived (and worked) in the crazy beast of the wizarding world.

"Get in." 

Upon walking in, her first step is one to greet the floor. The culprit, a troll's leg, had been in use as an umbrella stand; these umbrellas were currently scattered haphazardly on the filthy carpet.

A rough, bark-like laughter entered her world along with a warm voice. "I'm sorry about him." 

The words hit her like nothing else has ever done before; her body felt like it was on fire, lighting up something within her that she hadn't even realised that she was missing in the first place.

She was, however, currently lying face down on a filthy rug; and calling that instead of a pile of scum is being kind. When she tilts her head up, one worn yet kind face is smiling wryly, the other is gaunt and - 

She turned to the man not cruelly laughing at her demise. "Is that Sirius Black?" she asked.

The man blinked, a slight frown creeping onto his face. "I thought you were going to tell her about the logistics of all of this before you brought her here." 

His voice is slightly hoarse, yet it's gentle, hitting Tonks like a bullet train when she realises that this is _it_. 

Somehow immediate danger – and avoiding more embarrassment – felt more important in the moment. She is currently meeting new people, clueless to what's going on, with her mother's hopefully _alleged_ mass murderer cousin merely feet in front of her. 

Moody grunted under her unwavering, annoyed gaze. "Sirius is innocent. Pettigrew cut off his finger, framed Sirius and then lived as a rat with the Weasleys for 12 odd years. This is The Order of the Phoenix. Take it or leave it."

...

Tonks becomes immersed as a member of the Order of the Phoenix that night -  _Harry Potter is coming here, really?_ \- meanwhile, she's itching to tear off her sock.

Remus, on the other hand, doesn't realise what's happening until Sirius cornered him, late after the meeting and Tonks' departure and hissed, "That's her, you dolt."

Next time they meet, their tale starts to unfold. It is characterised by the reluctance of a damaged wolf and the persistence and infinite love of his destined mate. Unfortunately, soul marks follow fate. Not the other way around.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. I apologise for the slightly angsty ending.
> 
> EDIT: 3/2/2018 - Oh, it's been great seeing the attention my little story(ies) have been getting. However, my writing has developed and improved considerably since I initially published it - so I have cleaned it up and made sure it is all in a consistent tense and that it is more fluent. There's also a third instalment upcoming called _The Error In Fortune_ which I am excited to share with you; at the moment it's 2400 words.


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